The screencaps of the colorized version are up at DVDBeaver.

Accoding this review, and the screen captures confirm, the colorized version it's a new and bether transfer, while the B&W that come together is the old B&W tranfer, more solf, less crisp.
The Black and white is even the same disc of the earlier DVD, same bitrate graphic.

If you want more details in B&W you need to play the color version and turn dow the colors.

A too yellowed color balance to my taste, perhap looks bether on TV. I removed the yellowed excess by Photoshop and it looked bether.
The technology looks the same, but if you look to the second screen capture (man with open arms) comparison on the link above, it looks very uggly.
I never saw a colorization work able to put the greened color for the veins in the back of hands.

Check the review: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdco...nderfullife.htm

They would segment the skin not in a single sellection, but in a multiple sellections, one for face cheeks, ears (changes color if have light behind) one for neck, one for hands and hands back, and create a color spectrun for each one, since the real human skin have different depht (more or less blood according depth) and so different color, saturation and hues for regions.
They have cpontless sellection on a scene, so the cost almostwould not be increase . Also once the skin is overal separeted from the rest of i age, it's esay to segmet it for hands, eras, neeck...

I got a screen capture and alterated a littlke the colors for nech and cheak, making nech more "cold" and cheeks more warm. It got a bit bether!

I hope paramount have the decency of ralise this dvd on Brazil!!!!!!!!!

The colorized captures on the DVD BEAVER website are truly amazing. While I prefer films to be seen how they were originally presented, I have no trouble admitting that I admire what I've seen in this technology. Its really come a long way.

The colorized version has a much higher bitrate, and no audio pops. I might pick this one up, and just turn the color down.

Colorization has really come a long way. I'm impressed, may have to buy this new edition, since I only own the Republic version.

I still do not think I could ever bring myself to watch a colorized version of It's A Wonderful Life, but I have to admit that Legends Films did a top-notch job on the film.

Sold!



As the reviewer puts it:

WITH E EXCEPTION OF THE SECOND CAPTURE IN DVD BEAVER, THE COLORIZATION LOOKS PRETTY GOOD. WELL DONE BARRY!

LEGEND FILMS TECHNOLOGY, SIMILAR TO OTHER COLORIZATION METHODS, GET BETHER IF HAVE A LOW CONTRAST FILM ELEMENTS OR FOOTAGE.

I prepared this image comparison of my own, with a readjusmtment of contrast, since DVD screen captures on PC always looks faded, also re-color balancing the image, and trying to regionally change the skin color in specific areas to get it more warm and dinamic, making cheeks more vivid and warm, and for other side turning the neck less warm or more cold.



The silly duck-egg blue rectangles are just to avoid anyone to copy it or mistake with Legend Films original.

I can turn this image even more contrasting and it will still look natural, ALMOST LIKE A REAL CONTRASTING COLOR PRINT. By colorizing in low contrast and turning to higher contrast we got fine results. But itf the only surviving element for It's A Wonderful Life was a high contrast, and the colorization would start from that, the result would be not pleasant, like the colorization of Things to Come showed us.

So I think if Legend Films could adapt their tools to try to turn the image contrast naturally lower, like did Lowry Digital Image (actual DTS Digital Images) while restoring Roman Holiday, they will get far bether results for colorization of contrasting footage.

Even higher contrast version:

By BetoDarce

Who can recognize all actor played as caricatures in this cartoon??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKAZ7_czZO8&NR=1

I was able to identify a lot: Peter Lore, Greta Garbo, Invisible Man, Three Stooges, H.Bogart, Hedy Lamar, James Cagney, Harpo and Goucho Marx, Bethe Davis, Bing Cosby, Gary Grant, E.J Robson, Jimmy Stewart, Frankeisntein Monter from 1931, Mickey Rooney, Judy garland, Buster Keaton, Oliver Hard, Clark Gable...

Hey Alfred,

You likely ripped that image from a teaser which I believe Paramount placed in another DVD as a preview.

The DVD will be released until next Tuesday (Nov. 13th).

The original telecine of the film that Paramount gave us to work with was exceptional in quality and I definitely could not justify touching the underlying black and white element.

The studio would not find the contrast you present acceptable. I hope you can see that it's intrusive and completely changes the moment. The original filming of Donna Reed was intentionally lensed soft. Your adjustments made her look like she has a sunburn.

Barry B. Sandrew, Ph.D.
Founder/COO
Legend Films, Inc.

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Alfred,

I thought I posted this yesterday but it didn't get put up for some reason.

You must have ripped the image of Donna Reed from the teaser we produced for Paramount. I believe that teaser was released on a recent DVD as a preview of the November 13th release of It's A Wondeful Life".

Paramount supplied us with a high definition transfer of the Capra film that was of exceptional quality. There was no need to mess with the contrast because the well balanced luminance in the transfer provided a look that was true to the original cinematograpy.

Our intention is to present a studied creative interpretation of the film using color. If color design is intrusive it becomes the central focus and that's not what we're about. When a person say's that they enjoyed the film in color and forgot it was colorized, we've succeeded.

The shot of Donna Reed that you present above was priginally lensed in soft focus for a reason and to add contrast destroys that effect. In fact, with increased contrast the color pops to the point where she looks sun burned and the whole intention of the shot is lost.

.

Nice to hear from you again, Barry. Yes, a supoerb new tranfer....

My high contrast adjustmente wasn't to be like that in final steps. I made it to demonstrate that a high contrast print could be colorized like a high contrast real contrasting color print use to look.
Despite you have the best worldwide technology, personally I believe sometimes Legend Fils colorize a contrasting print with the color dynamics (for Saturation anf hue) of a low contrating print, like did in the Sci-Fi film Things to Come.

The first image (comparison) was the adjustment itself (not soft as should) and the second image was for demonstrate that colors get bether along colorisation of high contrast if follow the natural dynamic of colors of real high contrast prints.

[IMG][/IMG]

The industry need to understand the the B&W grading sometimes need to be globally altered; and sure the regional contrast relations would be kept. In other words, would alter like just a curves (gamma curves) and not like darken or brighter just a section of the frame, as darken a shirt for example.
Colorization it's somewhat a entire new version of the film, and grading balance of B&W don't necessarilly works for color. But bether cold be done for certain scenes if the B&W grading cold be modified when needed.

Barry: What about improve even more skin colorization by creating few more color differences, by getting sellection for different sector of skin, like cheek, hands, neck, chest, arm?
Each one would have a own color spectrun (similar to each other but with little differences) and soft connected to the other areas, getting seamless trazition, and a more natural result?
This could solve the lack of cheek color and over saturated necks, often in colorizations.
Your Photo Real algorith creates color variances, but like a texture colors, and not exactly for large color variances for regions of body skin.
The mouth borders, the noze edges and the eyes would work like extrategic points to turn tracking near automatic.

If I could use your colorizatrion tools for a day or two... Could create dreamful colorizations...
But it's a tool you kept by seven keys or even more :-)


Alfred

PS: Screen capture came from this review, from the Disc itself: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcom...derfullife.htm

You really posted it yesterday, but there is 3 forums on DVDTalk about It's a Wonderful Life colorized, so I posted practiacally the same in all :-)

This is a classic logical fallacy. As if you have to choose one thing or the other.

I guess some people prefer to complain about people complaining about colorization instead of ending all war.

Why aren't you ending all war?????

Come on, Clud Raimes, end all war.

What I mean is that we don't see much critic to the TV crap, ultra violence, sexual exploitation, retard almost porn comedies, opression of the actual media, cause the media dominate. But colorization, a small market is target of several furious critics, depite be getting back productions much more health.
This flag of freedon, is in reality a manipulation.
Ending all war??? What do you mean by that?

http://blogs.nypost.com/movies/archi...tra_georg.html

“…It is impressive and probably the best colorized movie to date. Legend Films' latest effort very respectfully works around the almost noir-ish cinematography by Joe Biroc, Joseph Walker and the un-credited Victor Milner. Color draws attention to the Jack Okey's incredibly detailed set decoration for Mr. Gower's drugstore, for instance. Probably the best sequence in color is the fabled swimming pool dance, including very intricate shadow lighting that would never have been used in an actual color film of the era (Legend adopts the more recent convention of stressing the golden side of the spectrum, particularly in the flashbacks to the 1920s)."

Like that's an achievement. "Syphilis is the best venereal disease yet!"

My God! Do we really need three separate threads that all say the same thing??? Since Alfred seems loathe to let a single one of them die a natural death, can one of the mods lock or merge two of them?

Reductio ad absurdum. I am saying one has nothing to do with the other, then I did the same thing.

Do you really believe more people complain about colorization than violence in media? Talk about selective attention!

But the essential point remains. You implied that people on this board were remiss because they cared about colorization but not blah blah blah. So i asked why are you here complaining about complainers when you could be out there ending all war.

I'll give you until tomorrow to end all war.

Well, I have to say that the screenshots I saw on dvdbeaver look great in color. It looks like Technicolor to me.

It might be different in motion, but it looks good as screenshots.

The copy I have is the really old republic version that came with the brass tree ornament, so I'll upgrade to this one.

Indeed, Capra did want It's a Wonderful Life in color. According to Mike Agee of Hal Roach Studios, Capra signed a contract with Markle and Hunt of Colorization Inc to colorize It's A Wonderful Life back in the mid 80's. Cary Grant was so impressed with the first colorized film, Topper that he suggested to Capra that he should colorize several of his black and white films. Agee tells me he actually has the signed contract. Unfortunately after Markle and Hunt discovered that the film was in public domain, they decided Frank's advance payment was not necessary and they dumped him. More unfortunate... they made an enemy out of someone that would have made a significant ally.

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You must not read much if you think those topics are not discussed and/or criticized.


Just because I think that colorization is a stupid idea and looks like crap, doesn't mean that I'm ignoring violence, sexual exploitation, global warming, trans fats, or public appearances by Tom Cruise. It just means that I'm sticking to the topic at hand.

I'll gladly discuss trans fats in the appropriate situation.

Yeah a problem :-) So here am I posting again, trying to fill the three treads...
Well, here the adjusted but less or without sunburn look, more close to soft intention.
Al that is just trying to show that skinn get a bit bether if got little differences in color for cheek, neck and others.
[IMG][/IMG]

Other thing colorization technology will probably advance in near future is about 3D estimation, to calculate bether reflex of colors or even few interferences in the color hues due colored pieces near objects. There are already some few 3D estimation, for particular situation, according Barry, but it's in early stages I presume.

Barry should make a colorization test. Something like colorize the opening and the ending scenes of The Wizard of Oz, which had those sequences in Kansas a B&W sepia tone. If the colors get well like in the Land of Oz scenes, would be interesthing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEEUehKXMM8

If we coud erase the memories of this film, from the mind of a anti colorization cinephile, and present the film for hin first as a B&W glossy & grain version, and after that present the original color film, claming it was a colorization with the latst technology, what would hin say??

It's possible that maybe he says: "This is a insult, and it's not like the original classic B&W with the strong glossy great silver shades. The colors are garish and too strong. Colorization should be forbiden."

The whole colorization history could be very different if Markle and Hunt hadn't turn out discharging Capra from the project!
Could you imagine if thew investiment made by Ted Turner in the 80's was made today.

I supose it's not easy for Barry. He practically invented the colorization, the first digital process, and since the 80's is beeing attacked by anti-colorizatioin croops, or hard critics about the quality of the colorization technology, or called of Syphilis disseminator like we heard here.
Let's be more repectable to someone who allow some of his time to go to the forums and respond questions and talk with crazy film fans like us.